The State of Israel was almost extinguished at birth when invaded by all of its neighboring Arab countries, with only its Western boundary, the Mediterranean, free from this threat. As it established itself as a strong local power, Israel still feared having to fight on several fronts, splitting its precious assets. Indeed, this is what caused the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which started with a simultaneous offensive by Egypt and Syria, to be so dangerous and difficult for it to wage. Peace with Egypt and Jordan made a repeat of this scenario moot, but now looms again the specter of a multi-front war, in which Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and other armed groups will attack from several directions. Indeed, to help the IDF prepare for this contingency, it recently held a challenging drill, Exercise “Firm Hand”. So, is Israel ready to meet this threat?
Joining us to analyze this question are
Major General (Res) Gershon Ha-Cohen, IDF Army Corps Commander, Major General (Res.) Yair Golan, Former IDF Deputy Chief of General Staff, and our own Editor-at-Large, Amir Oren.
